Leighton Sparks Baseball Past Long Island, 16-6

Box Score

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK (March 28, 2001) - Senior first baseman Brian Leighton (Brewster, NY) went 4-for-5 and drove in two runs to lead Seton Hall to a 16-6 win over Long Island University.

Seton Hall, which has won four straight and eight of nine, improves to 11-10. Long Island is 4-9.

The Pirates snapped a 6-6 tie with two runs in the top of the fourth. Senior second baseman Joe Cuervo (Warren, NJ), who led off with a double, scored on sophomore leftfielder Casey Grimm's (Morristown, NJ) one-out double off the centerfield wall. Grimm came around on Leighton's single up the middle, giving Seton Hall an 8-6 lead. The Pirates scored the final ten runs of the game.

Seton Hall added five runs in the sixth and three in the seventh to pull away. Senior catcher Adam Arslanian (Fair Lawn, NJ) and freshman rightfielder Garrett Weir (Brooklyn, NY) each had an RBI double in the sixth. Junior third baseman Todd Crawford (Millersville, PA) added an RBI single in the sixth and a two-run double in the seventh.

Sophomore right-hander Matt Skrypack (New City, NY) picked up the win in relief. He went 3.1 innings, allowing just one hit and no runs. Skrypack (1-0) struck out a season-high six batters.

Seton Hall never trailed in the game. The Pirates scored four runs in the top of the first as Cuervo, who singled to open the game, came around on a two-out single by Leighton. Two batters later, senior designated hitter Kevin Leighton (Brewster, NY) connected for a three-run homer, giving the Pirates a 4-0 lead.

LIU loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the first. Jonathon Marshall and Matt Early came around on an error to cut the lead to 4-2. After Seton Hall built the lead back up to 6-2 in the top of the third, Long Island scored four times in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Mike Thompson drove in one run with a single. Anthony Valvano (Lyndhurst, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) later drove in three runs with a bases-loaded two-out triple.

Seton Hall, pounded out a season-high 21 hits off six different LIU pitchers. Twelve different Pirates broke into the hit column. Cuervo had three hits while Grimm, Arslanian, Crawford and junior shortstop Chris Carter (Fair Haven, NJ) had two hits each.

After 21 straight road games, Seton Hall opens its home schedule on Thursday, March 28 when it hosts Monmouth University in a 3 p.m. game.